Eureka approves Marina Center coastal development permit

Following amendments concerning title issues with the Balloon Track property and clarification of the resolution, the Eureka City Council approved the Marina Center's coastal development permit Tuesday night in a 4 to 1 vote with Councilman Larry Glass dissenting.

The permit will allow the Marina Center developer to move forward with an interim cleanup plan. A trio of environmental groups opposed the permit, saying they will appeal its approval to the California Coastal Commission.

Councilman Frank Jager said he is in favor of the first phase of the project because his constituents are.

A majority of the public speakers who turned out at a series of meetings regarding the project's environmental impact report, or EIR, and the permit supported moving forward with the Marina Center development, citing the creation of jobs and saying a cleanup of the site is long overdue.

"We as a council owe them that -- to get it moving," Jager said. "I'm not intimidated by Humboldt Baykeeper, or EPIC, or any of those environmental groups. They're extortionists."

After continually voting against the Marina Center EIR, Councilwoman Linda Atkins voted in favor of the permit on the condition that revisions were made to the resolution to clarify that the council was only approving the cleanup, not the entire project.

"I am still not in favor of the project. I am in favor of the cleanup project," she said, adding that she will continue to bring up her concerns about increased traffic. Glass reiterated his concerns about what he said are inadequacies in the interim cleanup plan.

The cleanup includes the restoration of wetlands and a preliminary cleanup plan aimed at controlling contaminated stormwater runoff from the Balloon Track property.

CUE VI, a subsidiary of Security National, purchased the Balloon Track in 2006 and is proposing the construction of a 43-acre development that will include retail and office spaces as well as an 11-acre wetland reserve.

A last-minute letter from the California State Lands Commission asked the council to amend its resolution to include that the first phase could only begin after title issues are resolved.

The project falls within lands granted to the city by the commission, allowing the commission to reserve the right to the minerals of the land. Discussions with CUE VI concerning the title dispute have not led to a resolution, the letter said.

Lawrence Bazel, legal counsel to Security National, said the developer tried to settle the issue with the commission three years ago, but did not receive a response. He said it would be a long wait for any resolution with the commission, and urged the council not to agree to the amendment.

Following the suggestion of Councilman Jeff Leonard, the council decided to include the amendment with the condition that the council receive a report on the status of any resolution in April to ensure the discussions don't continue to drag on.

Humboldt Baykeeper, the Environmental Protection Information Center, or EPIC, and the Northcoast Environmental Center voiced their opposition to the permit.

"The groups' specific concerns are impacts to wetlands and environmentally sensitive habitat areas, as well as the lack of adequate analysis of those impacts," the group said in a statement.

Baykeeper's Pete Nichols said the nonprofit's plan on appealing the permit and will continue to pursue a lawsuit against the Marina Center's EIR, which was passed last week.

"It's not about the project, it's about an inadequate cleanup plan which we believe the Coastal Commission will agree with us on," he said.

Leonard said he has faith in the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the agency which approved the interim cleanup plan.

"They do it for a living and they actually have scientific degrees to do it for a living," he said.